RSS-BJP brass to hold review meet in Ujjain from tomorrow

The brass of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and BJP will hold a meeting in Ujjain from Wednesday to discuss national security, the state of the economy and relations with Pakistan and China, among other pressing issues facing the country.

How to handle unrest in society and caste conflicts that the recent Gujarat assembly election brought to the fore are likely to be part of the review meeting, which will be attended among others by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and BJP president Amit Shah, people aware of the matter told ET.

The BJP formed the government in Gujarat last month after winning 99 seats in a contest that was more closely fought than many had anticipated. Congress won 77 seats in the 182-member assembly after joining hands with young leaders who had spearheaded caste agitations and challenged the ruling BJP in the state.

Other senior office-bearers of the Sangh such as Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi, Krishna Gopal, Dattatreya Hosabale and Krishna Gopal will also be present at the meeting, the people cited earlier said on condition of anonymity.

"The meeting is called Pasaydan, a prayer made for the welfare of world by Saint Dnyaneshwar. It is a meeting to bring in peace for all living and nonliving things and pray for the welfare of the country and world at large," an RSS member said.

Sangh members that ET spoke with said the participants will review all major happenings in the past six months and brainstorm over the best possible ways to deal with the challenges the country faces.

The issues likely to be discussed include the impact of GST, the state of the economy, Gujarat and Himachal elections, Dokalam crisis, etc. Unlike the general body meeting of RSS — also known as Pratinidhi Sabha, which is held every year in March and has core members from all affiliated organisations of RSS coming together to discuss organisational work, apart from larger issues — the Pasaydan will largely focus on contemporary issues concerning national interest.

RSS members said Bhagwat has in the past six months conducted meetings in 18 cities with influential people, thinkers, Army veterans, professors, artists and social activists, among others, on the issues he had raised in his Vijayadashami speech delivered in October. The speech, largely seen as Bhagwat's most political speech till date addressed issues such as Kashmir, Rohingya refugee crisis, cow protection, economy, Kerala, Bengal and nationalism.

This time, apart from the meetings that Bhagwat presided over, senior RSS leaders such as Arun Kumar, Krishna Gopal and Dattatreya Hosabale had travelled to different cities, gathering feedback from people on what they thought of social, national and economic issues concerning the country, which will be presented in the meeting at Ujjain. Detailed reports will be presented to the leaders on how complicated issues concerning the nation can be taken forward, a senior RSS member said.

In his address on Vijayadashami last year, Bhagwat had called for "constitutional amendments" for the residents of J&K to be "assimilated with the rest of Bharat". RSS and BJP have historically opposed the constitutional provisions given to Kashmir — Article 370 that grants special autonomous status to the state and Article 35A that lets the state legislature define 'permanent residents' of J&K, providing them special rights and privileges.

On Rohingya Muslim refugees, Bhagwat said a decision regarding the community must be made keeping "threat to national security" in mind. RSS chief also criticised Bengal and Kerala for resisting BJP and blamed them for their "systematically politicised administrative systems".